Onboarding Done Right: How to Turn New Hires Into Star Players
Hiring the right person is only half the battle. What happens in the weeks and months after someone joins your team often determines whether they thrive or quietly underperform — and whether they stay. Yet for many chiropractic practices, onboarding is little more than a rushed orientation and a hope that things work out.
It doesn't have to be that way.
Think of your new hire like a promising quarterback who's changed teams. Plenty of talented players have looked mediocre in one environment and become stars in another. The difference usually isn't talent — it's the system around them. When onboarding is done well, a "puppy" (someone with great values and potential but still developing their skills) has a clear path to becoming a star. When it's neglected, even a great hire can flounder.
A Structured Onboarding Framework
A solid onboarding process has five phases. The first is pre-onboarding, which begins the moment someone accepts the offer. Use this window to engage your new team member — a simple welcome text sequence or a personalized greeting on day one goes a long way toward confirming they made the right decision.
Phase two is orientation, covering the basics of day one through day three: setting up access, touring the space, and making them feel genuinely welcomed. Phase three is core training during weeks one and two. Leverage existing vendor resources here — if you use an EHR or patient communication platform, let their training materials do the heavy lifting. You don't need to reinvent the wheel.
Weeks three and four are about full immersion, and month two and beyond is integration, where the new team member operates independently with support. The entire onboarding period wraps up with a 90-day review — a structured conversation that highlights what's going well, identifies areas for growth, and reaffirms that this person has a future with your team. Follow the review up with a written summary so expectations are clear and documented.
Culture Matters as Much as Content
One of the most common onboarding mistakes is focusing entirely on tasks and procedures while neglecting the human element. Your new hire is asking themselves the same question you are: Did I make the right call? Small gestures — a favorite drink waiting at their desk, branded gear ordered in advance, a personal check-in after their first shift — signal that the answer is yes. The book Never Lose an Employee Again by Joey Coleman is an excellent resource for building these intentional touchpoints throughout the onboarding journey.
Continued Development: Meetings and Training
Once someone is settled in, the work isn't over. Ongoing development happens through two channels: consistent meetings and structured training.
A pre-shift huddle (about 15 minutes before each shift) keeps everyone prepared and aligned on the patients coming in. A weekly team meeting handles the bigger picture — stats, upcoming events, patient touchpoints, and any obstacles on the horizon. And a quarterly or annual planning meeting sets the strategic direction and ensures your whole team is rowing in the same direction.
Training is where many practices fall short. The key is structure: map out your training topics across the year, rotate through clinical skills, patient experience, services, and front desk protocols. Most importantly, train everyone together. When your front desk understands your rehab services and your care coordinators hear clinical discussions, the entire team becomes more effective at serving patients.
Start small if needed — even one short training topic every other week adds up to 26 focused sessions per year. The goal isn't perfection. It's consistency.
Hire well, onboard intentionally, and develop continuously. That's how you build an A team.
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